Minimalistic Prayer

Minimalism

What does that word evoke within you?

I will tell you what it brings to my minds eye.

I see simplicity.

I see uncomplicated.

Christianity seems to be loaded with a complicated mess of theology, doctrines and opinions. There are complicated people out there with complicated minds, churning out complicated theories on every aspect of Christianity.

Prayer is one of those aspects.

The super spiritual among the Christian community love to do one of two things.

Relegate prayer to a bit of a necessary chore, thinking “A nice bit of ancient liturgy will cover it.”

Or overcomplicate it to the extent of mushing it up into a complicated theological crumpled mess, loading needless theories and jumped up theological opinions on to it.

So

Prayer then becomes a dry and insipid act.

Yeah

Come on now.

Admit it.

We have all been there!

I remember talking to a guy who had just sat through a church service for the very first time in his life.

We sat in a coffee bar afterwards slugging double expresso discussing what he thought of it.

The very first thing he said to me was this.

“I thought when you prayed you spoke to God?”

I asked him to expand on that statement.

He went on

“I never knew you just read it parrot fashion off a sheet, the same sheet they use every week I take it?”

I struggled not to laugh at this. as I knew it was true.

This guy was struggling to see how you could just pray the same thing week in week out when obviously we carry unique and individual situations into church with us.

He then said this.

“It’s way too complicated for me.”

Hey

Jesus knew about this back in the ancient day.

He said in a famous sermon he gave on a middle eastern hill one day, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others, truly I tell you they have received their reward in full. But when you pray go into your room, close the door and pray to you father who is unseen and then your father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray do not keep on babbling like the pagans for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray;
Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6: 5-13)

The Lords prayer is a simple prayer.

It’s an example of how to pray simply.

Jesus doesn’t mean just say this prayer and you will be okay.

He is giving us an example how to be minimalistic in prayer but to the point.

There are all kinds of prayer, it says that in scripture, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Prayer undoubtedly has many aspects especially in spiritual warfare and in life’s battles.

But essentially it is the lifeblood of a personal living relationship with God.

And as Jesus so eloquently says, it needs to be uncomplicated.

Minimalistic.

Free from babbling and show.

Prayer doesn’t need to be loaded with theology and classy rhetoric.

No

It needs to be loaded with innocence and authenticity and it should flow from one’s unique heart and from one’s personality.

I listened to someone in a service I was speaking at recently stand up and pray.

It was so lengthy and so complicated that firstly I lost the will to live so I turned to my phone to check the previous days football results, and secondly as this person said Amen, I felt in my spirit a certain smugness emanating from the person, so much so I heard the words in my mind “Pick the bones out of that one!” The person was almost triumphant in having delivered such a richly complicated prayer.

Bless them.

Hey

Prayer is our relationship with God.

So
it is better to be a simple conversation.

Us speaking to God and him Speaking to us.

Yes

We must pray into some serious stuff sometimes

But yeah

That doesn’t mean we have to complicate the prayer.

Even in the difficult aspects of prayer such as spiritual warfare doesn’t mean it requires complicated prayers.

Let's Unload our prayers.

Be simplistic about it.

Minimalize your personal prayer life. Not in terms of the amount you pray but be to the point in what you say.
Speak what you need, what you require, talk to God about everything.

Pray with all kinds of prayers and requests. Don’t wait until Sunday for the service either, God is always there.

Bring him into every aspect of our lives, the good and the bad bits and let him speak, listen to him, he won’t give you a complicated answer.

Prayer is so exciting.

Along with the word of God, it is the only thing that can bring life to your relationship with him.

Hey

Maybe it is the spark you have been missing?